Teen faces murder charge in Gurnee stabbing

August 19, 2011|By Lisa Black | Tribune reporter

A Waukegan teen was charged with murder today, one day after authorities said he stabbed the driver of a Jeep and the front-seat passenger as the three traveled in the vehicle along busy Grand Avenue in Gurnee.

Zervont A. Thomas, 18, of the 700 block of Walnut Street, was being held Friday at Lake County Jail with a $5 million bond on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder, officials said.

The driver of the 1992 Jeep Cherokee, Stefan A. Metel, 33, of Round Lake Beach, was pronounced dead shortly after arrival Thursday afternoon at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Autopsy results showed that he died of trauma from multiple stab wounds to neck and face, Coroner Artis Yancey said.

The front-seat passenger, a 17-year-old boy from Round Lake Beach, remained in the hospital in fair condition Friday, a hospital official said.

He had been stabbed near the left eye, but officials believe he will keep his eyesight, Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Steve Scheller said.

The episode prompted a flurry of police activity Thursday afternoon near a Gurnee car dealership where the two injured men sought refuge. Based on initial, erroneous reports that there might have been a shooting, dozens of police, some armed with rifles, swarmed the area, and nearby schools and Grand Avenue were shut down.

What police pieced together later was that Thomas had called Metel to ask for a ride and then became belligerent when Metel said he needed to stop at his house to pick up some money, Scheller said.

"For some reason this angered Mr. Thomas," Scheller said. From the back seat, Thomas "began stabbing the victim repeatedly in the neck and the head, then turned and started to stab the front-seat passenger."

The 17-year-old jumped out of the moving car and ran across Grand Avenue seeking help, Scheller said.

The vehicle continued to roll down Grand and veered off onto a berm near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Arlington Lane before stopping in front of an Anthony Buick GMC dealership, according to Gurnee police.

Metel "staggered into the dealership and fell to the ground," Scheller said.

Thomas, who did not know Metel was in the building, also entered the dealership and "was making statements about stabbing people, and so the manager detained him until the police got there," Scheller said.

A large folding knife was recovered in the Jeep, according to police.

Thomas also has a pending robbery charge against him in Lake County, Scheller said. Thomas met Metel while the two were at Lake County Jail, police said.

The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force is assisting the Gurnee Police Department with the investigation.